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Central nervous system symptoms in patients with Behçet disease receiving cyclosporine therapy
S Kotake1, K Higashi, K Yoshikawa
1Department of Ophthalmology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Objective:
To investigate the association between the development of central nervous system (CNS) symptoms in patients with Behçet disease and medical therapy.
Design:
Retrospective cohort study.
Participants:
A total of 317 patients with Behçet disease with ocular complications who visited Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan, between 1978 and 1994.
Main Outcome Measures:
The incidence of CNS symptoms in different medical therapies.
Results:
Twenty-one (6.6%) of the 317 patients developed CNS symptoms, namely neuro-Behçet disease. Of the 21 patients, 12 were undergoing cyclosporine therapy. Of the 47 patients who underwent cyclosporine therapy, 12 (25.5%) developed CNS symptoms, whereas only 9 (3.3%) of 270 patients who did not undergo cyclosporine therapy developed CNS symptoms.
Conclusions:
Cyclosporine in the treatment of Behçet disease appears to cause neurotoxicity or to accelerate the development of CNS symptoms. Thus, neurologic complications appear to represent a major side effect of cyclosporine in the treatment of patients with Behçet disease.